It's Not Fair
by avearia
Summary: She finds him there on the outskirts of Amity, away from the sirens and chaos, staring up at the stars. – Family/hurt/comfort. Character death. Oneshot.


_I originally wrote this in response to an artwork by Poltergeist, found on tumblr. I'm posting it here because I got a request to put it on this site. If you want to see the original artwork, or my original response, the link can be found on my profile page. _

_I hope you enjoy this short oneshot. Please read, review, and enjoy._

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It's Not Fair

She finds him there, on the outskirts of Amity, away from the sirens and chaos. Battered, bruised, lying on his back in the grass – staring up at the stars.

Wordlessly, she walks over and lies down beside him, propping one hand behind her head as a makeshift pillow.

The night sky fills her vision. A mural of stars are painted against a black void, stretching onward in all directions. They're so bright tonight, so vibrant and brilliant, and hauntingly beautiful in the dark. Clusters of light shine brightly, like fireflies dancing in the depths of space, eons out of their reach. Nights like this, Jazz has to stop and stare in awe of the universe. It's poetry, of some sort. The Vast and the Endless – it makes her feel small.

She does not know how long she sits there with him, staring up at the endless beauty etched into the night sky. Eternity seems to pass before Danny speaks, his whisper like a gentle wind sighing through the field.

"It's not fair."

In the silence, Jazz imagines she can hear the sirens once again; the cut of blue and red lights throwing stark shadows across the scene. Sinister and dark, the shadows hide twisted metal and mangled limbs -

In a blink, she's brought back to reality, nothing but stars in her vision and the sound of her brother slowly breathing in and out beside her.

With a rustle, he takes his flashlight, shining it upwards. And Jazz knows he's thinking about space, about astronauts and space shuttles, and dreams that are as out-of-reach as the stars above them. Because Phantom can't leave. Not even for a day, as tonight has so clearly shown - what tragedy can happen when the Hero arrives just a little bit too late.

"…They're so beautiful." Danny whispers, his voice full of longing. "…And so far away."

The flashlight beam shines upwards, not catching on anything in the clear night sky. Jazz wonders if somewhere, on those countless stars, someone might be looking back at earth, and see the flashlight as just another star in the void.

She wonders if somewhere out there, two kids are looking up at an alien sky, wanting to escape, just like them.

"…I've decided I'm not going to college," Jazz says.

For a moment, nothing moves. Then – "Are you sure?" the question sounds broken, but not offended. It's her own decision … sacrifice… to make. And Danny knows plenty about sacrifice.

"It's not important right now." But it is. Just not AS important. "I'll help run Fentonworks, now that Mom's -"

Dead. Now that Mom is dead.

She can feel him shiver - or tremble, she doesn't know. He doesn't argue. He doesn't say a word. The silence consumes them again, thick and empty. The beauty of the sky only serves to contrast the ugliness below.

"It's not **fair**," Danny sobs. "It's—not fair! Why are the beautiful things always so far out of reach?"

Jazz leans her head against his. "Don't cry, Danny. It isn't true." He sniffs, but doesn't answer. She points. "Danny, some of those stars – they're planets, right?"

"Yeah," he answers, and sniffs. "So?"

"…So we're on a planet."

He falls silent, and Jazz goes on. "We're somebody's star. We just can't see the light because we're in the thick of things. We're too busy looking up." For a moment, she pauses, then adds, "I know it's bad, Danny. I know it seems dark and cold. But… there's light here, too. And maybe someday, when we get some distance, when we look back at everything that happened…" she leans over to kiss his forehead. "Maybe we'll find our star was the brightest of them all."

He sobs, a tear trailing down his cheek. She brushes it away and sits back, looking up at the starlight once again. The silence isn't so bad now, and they sit together, the calm settling into their bones.

At last, Danny's flashlight clicks on again, aimed upwards. "Do you think—do you think she's out there?" he asks. "…Somewhere?"

"Yes." That is a certainty. She can feel it.

"…What do you think she's doing? Right now?"

A pause, and Jazz smiles, knowing the answer.

"Looking at the stars," she says, reaching down to grab his hand in hers. And he smiles, too.

"…Looking at us."


End file.
